


Family Don't End With Blood

by fangirlingtodeath513



Series: Season 12 Coda Fics [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Episode: s12e13 Coda, Episode: s12e13 Family Feud, Post-Episode: s12e13 Coda, Post-Episode: s12e13 Family Feud
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 18:10:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9914804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlingtodeath513/pseuds/fangirlingtodeath513
Summary: “So where does that leave us?” Dean forces out, struggling to keep his voice calm. His eyes flick up to Mary’s face, dreading the answer he’s going to get. Mary stares him down for a moment, before opening her mouth.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to write a coda for this episode. Too much of the conversation between Mary and the boys after she confessed was left out. So here's my take on it. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> This is un-betad and I literally just sat down and wrote this in an hour, so if you find any errors, let me know and I'll fix them!

            His heart had dropped as soon as the words had left his mo- Mary’s mouth. Mary. It was easier to think of her that way. Someone who was family, sure. But not their mother. Not the mother his four-year-old brain remembered. Certainly not the mother they’d grown up hearing stories about. Though with all the things Dean had learned since his father’s death, he’s aware there was so much more to Mary that John never had any idea about. And he gets that Mary is still adjusting to being alive after thirty years spent in Heaven, presumably. He knows just how many mistakes he, Sam, and Cas have _all_ made when they thought they were doing the right thing. And every single time it felt like a personal attack against him. This time is no different.

 

“So where does that leave us?” Dean forces out, struggling to keep his voice calm. His eyes flick up to Mary’s face, dreading the answer he’s going to get. Mary stares him down for a moment, before opening her mouth.

 

“Same as always. Family. Just… hear me out. Please.”

 

Family. Right. He sees the words leave Mary’s mouth but… something inside him doesn’t let him believe they’re true. And from the look on Mary’s face, he knows they’re not. He knows, deep down, she thinks that she’s doing the right thing. And honestly, a few years ago, if he had been in the same position, he would’ve thought the same thing. That monsters were monsters and they deserved to die. But that was before.

 

Before Benny. Before Garth, and Lenore, and Kate. Before _Cas_.

 

Being a monster doesn’t _make_ you a monster. If that was the only thing Dean had learned in the past few years, he’d be okay with that. The “shoot first, ask questions later” philosophy passed down to them by John, and even Samuel Campbell, to an extent, had fallen by the wayside. And if he was being honest with himself, it had been that way for a while. Sam was right. There were two parts to their job: saving people and hunting things. Some monsters were still people. It wasn’t their fault they’d been turned into monsters. They didn’t have any control over it, and they didn’t have the knowledge of the supernatural that hunters did.

 

He glances at Sam, and they nod at each other slowly before turning their attention back to Mary, letting her plead her case.

 

She tells them everything. She tells them that Mick came to her with a proposition about ridding America of monsters. About how her sons would be able to have a normal life instead of killing monsters. That she would save countless amounts of lives, and she could be a great asset to them. Just her name associated with them would bring in more and more hunters who knew the Winchesters, or had heard stories. With her help, they would be able to cure America of its monster problem once and for all. Dean paces slowly while she talks, listening but not really _listening_.

 

It’s not an option. Working with the British Men of Letters is absolutely out of the question, especially after what they did to Sam. While Toni might have been a rogue operative, he and Sam had managed a peek behind the curtain, and they weren’t thrilled with what they saw. Even the weapons the Brits had were… unnecessary. The old way worked just fine, and as far as killing monsters, it sure as hell seemed like the Winchester way was much more humane than turning an entire species’ blood against them to poison them slowly and painfully.

 

“They’ve helped. I’ve been able to save so many people, more people that I ever would have without them. I’ve taken out dozens of vampire nests, dozens of Djinn, even a few werewolf packs. They helped us take out Ramiel, a Prince of Hell! Imagine the damage he could have done.”

 

Dean feels himself freeze, even before he notices Sam going stiff next to him. He raises his head slowly until his eyes meet Mary’s. A quiet voice sounds beside him. Sam.

 

“They _what_?” Mary’s eyes widen slowly. It would’ve been comical if waves of hurt weren’t washing over Dean like a fucking tsunami. He grits his teeth, staring Mary down.

 

“They helped us take out Ramiel? Are you fucking kidding me? We almost died! _Cas_ almost died! If it wasn’t for Crowley, Cas _would have_ died! Wally _did_ die!” He feels Sam’s hand on his arm, but he shrugs it off, his arms falling to his sides. Mary heaves a sigh.

 

“It was a mission they gave me. I asked Wally to call you and say it was his case so you wouldn’t ask questions I wasn’t ready to answer. They told me they had no idea he was a Prince of Hell.” Dean stares at her with venom in his eyes, and idly thinks that if looks could kill, his mother would be dead again. He flexes his hands at his sides, his voice menacingly quiet.

 

“You almost got Cas killed. For some stupid fucking mission the people who tortured Sam gave you.” Sam, smart that he is, stay out of it. Dean’s grateful. He’s not sure he could handle Sam trying to calm him down. “I get that this is all new to you and that you think you’re doing the right thing… Fuck, Mom, I mean, Dad _beating_ me hurt less than this!” Mary’s eyes widen, and Dean realizes too late that Mary probably has no idea just how abusive John was to he and Sam, emotionally and physically. Oh well.

 

“John… John was…” She glances between them, eyes wide with sorrow.

 

“Yeah. John was a piece of shit.” Dean sets his beer down a little harder than he means to, sighing when the bottle breaks. He grabs a towel and cleans up the glass and beer, tossing it in the trash and shaking his head.

 

“I… I didn’t know. That wasn’t…”

 

“Of course it wasn’t in his fucking journal, why would it be? He wasn’t gonna write about how he abused his sons, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to add it afterwards.” Dean leans against the counter, gritting his teeth. Cas. She’d almost killed Cas. He’d almost had to watch his… He’d almost had to watch Cas die because of her. He can hear Sam and his mother speaking quietly in the other room, but he’s not interested enough to try and figure out what they’re talking about.

 

*                      *                      *

 

            He walks back to the War room after a while, taking a seat at the table with a new bottle of beer. He turns his eyes to Mary slowly, taking a sip.

 

“So what did you take that almost got my best friend killed?” He sees her flinch at the wording, but he can’t bring himself to care. Sam turns to him, raising an eyebrow.

 

“What do you mean ‘what did she take’? Why do you think she took something?”

 

“Ramiel asked us. He said someone took something from him and if they gave it back, we’d be allowed to leave. I sure as fuck didn’t take anything, neither did Cas. And if you had, you would’ve given it to him. So that leaves you. It was _your_ mission, after all.” Mary shifts her weight from one foot to the other and back again. A nervous tick she has, Dean’s noticed.

 

“It was a, um… a gun. I’d only ever heard rumors about it. I grew up hunting, my dad used to tell me stories about it. Said it could kill almost anything in creation.” Dean’s eyebrows raise at that, glancing at Sam and then back to Mary.

 

“You took the Colt? Ramiel had the Colt?” Mary’s eyebrows raise in surprise, looking between him and Sam.

 

“You… You know about the Colt?”

 

“Yeah, we know about the Colt. I used the last bullet for it to kill the yellow-eyed demon that killed you. I used it on Lucifer during the apocalypse, but apparently, he’s one of the five things it can’t kill. Obviously, with our luck.” Mary pauses, taking in all the information.

 

“The… the apocalypse?” Sam chuckles.

 

“Yeah, there’s… a lot you missed. You stole the Colt? You didn’t hand it over to the Brits, did you?” Mary shakes her head.

 

“Of course not. I know how powerful the Colt is, I never would’ve handed the real thing over to the Brits. I gave them a replica.” Dean raises his eyebrows.

 

“Where is it?” Mary glances before them before kneeling and pulling a wooden box from her bag, setting it on the table.

 

“I’m not sure why they want it. If it’s really out of bullets, then it won’t help them, unless they just want to display it.” Dean grabs the box, pulling it to him and flipping the latch, opening the box and laying his eyes on the colt for the first time in six years. He smiles to himself, nodding a bit.

 

“Good. Another weapon we can add to our arsenal. Sammy, do we have all the stuff we need?” Sam nods, glancing over at him.

 

“Everything I can remember we need, anyway.” Mary glances between them, clearly confused. Dean chuckles quietly.

 

“We know how to make bullets for it.” Mary’s eyes widen in understanding after a moment.

 

“Oh. Wow. That’s…” Dean snorts.

 

“Yeah, Sammy’s demon ex-girlfriend showed us.” Sam scoffs, shoving him.

 

“Shut up.” Mary glances between them, lost. Dean can almost see her wondering just how much she’s missed in the last thirty years.

 

*                      *                      *

 

            A knock startles Dean out of the tome on his lap hours later. He scrubs a hand over his face. “Yeah, it’s open. You can come in.” The door opens and, as he expected, Mary stands in the doorway, regret written all over her face.

 

“Dean, I just… wanted to apologize. I know I haven’t been here long, but I can see how much Castiel means to you-” Dean shakes his head, cutting her off.

 

“Don’t. Cause you’re just gonna go straight back to them after you leave here. Don’t waste your breath on an apology. I just hope you realize this isn’t the right thing before it’s too late.” Mary watches him cautiously for a moment before stepping forward.

 

“I know you don’t trust them, but they are doing the right thing. I know what they did to Sam, but that was just one person they lost control of. They’ve helped me help _so_ many people I wouldn’t have been able to save otherwise. They’re much more advanced than we are.” Dean scoffs, looking up at her.

 

“Advanced? You’re kidding, right? They have weapons that turn a vampire’s blood poisonous. Can you even imagine how excruciating that would be, to die like that? And apparently, they have weapons that melt a ruagru’s brains. Can’t imagine that feels too good either.” Mary raises her eyebrows.

 

“Good? Who cares about good? They’re monsters, Dean.” He chuckles bitterly, shaking his head.

  
“God, you’re just like your dad. Guess I should’ve expected that.” Mary pauses, her eyebrows furrowing.

 

“You didn’t know my father. He was dead before you were even born.”

 

“Yeah, he came back. Crowley brought him back about… six years ago. He made a deal to bring you back. He’d capture as many monsters as he could and give them to Crowley so they could find Purgatory, the place monsters go when they die, and collect the souls from it. Didn’t turn out so well for him.” He sees Mary swallow thickly, but he can’t manage to summon any guilt for the dead Campbell. Even if he hadn’t been under the control of the monster when he died, he _did_ still turn he and Sam over to Crowley and leave them for dead.

 

“So where are we, then?” Dean glances up at her, raising an eyebrow at the mimic of his words from earlier.

 

“We’re not family. You gotta earn that. And so far, you’ve done everything you could to do the opposite of that.” Mary’s eyes narrow at him.

 

“I’m your blood.” Dean hums noncommittally, setting the tome aside on his bed.

 

“Family doesn’t end in blood. It sure as hell doesn’t start there, either. My real family, Sam, Cas, they’ve fucked up. A lot. So have I. And we all thought we were doing the right thing. Saving people, hunting things. We thought we were doing our jobs. In the end, we weren’t. We were just hurting our family for something that ended up hurting all of us. Sometimes even the entire world. The three of us have our shit to work through, sure, but… We’re on the same page. We know the shit we’ve done, and we have to deal with that. You’ve… we’re trying to keep you from having to go through that. But maybe we can’t. Maybe you have to go through it to learn that lesson. So Sam, Cas and I will be there to clean up the mess. Hopefully before you get hurt.” Mary watches him for a moment before giving a curt nod.

 

“I wish it could be different.” Dean can feel the corners of his mouth tilt up in the beginnings of a smile, and he nods.

 

“I do too. But it can’t. Maybe before, if you’d told us before Ramiel. If we’d known what we were getting ourselves into. But you didn’t. And we- _I_ almost lost Cas because of that. So… go do what you have to with the Brits, and when you’re done…” He shrugs, looking up at her, “The three of us will be here. We’ll help you clean up your mess and make sure no one gets too hurt from it. And then maybe we can start over. Take a break from hunting, just… spend some family time getting to know each other. The real each other.” Mary raises her eyebrows at him, but Dean just chuckles in response. “I get it. I was four when you died, Sammy was a baby. We’re not the kids you left behind anymore. We grew up, a lot faster than both of us would’ve liked. But that was our reality. We didn’t have a choice. We’re not your kids, not the ones you came back hoping for anyway. But… maybe there’s still something there.” He smiles softly, shrugging. “You’re our blood.” Mary smiles softly and nods, meeting his eyes.

 

“I’d like that. But… I have to do this. I wish you could understand. This is just something I need to do.” He nods, letting his eyes drop back down to his hands in his lap.

  
“I know. I get it. Just know the three of us will be here when you’re done.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr [here(:](https://fangirlingtodeath513.tumblr.com/)
> 
> PLEASE DO NOT POST MY WORKS ANYWHERE BUT HERE OR TUMBLR WITHOUT MY EXPRESS PERMISSION.


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